From dim sum to burrata, bonbons to buns, let the good times roll
Certain things make life more delicious. Eating food cooked on sticks, for example – kebabs and marshmallows, we see you. Eating outside, preferably beside a crackling fire; the same fire that cooked said food. Or consuming anything that’s wheeled towards you on a shiny trolley.
If you’ve quaffed a cocktail from The Connaught’s martini trolley, or gorged on creamy blues from The Inn at Little Washington’s cheese cart (captained by the restaurant’s resident Maître du Fromage), you know the power and magic of a set of wheels. Here are eight global gliding glories, bearing everything from burrata to buns and bonbons. Let’s get trolleyed.
The martini trolley: Turner’s Cut, Houston
@turnerscut
(Image: Duc Hoang)
The owner of Turner’s Cut, hospitality mogul Ben Berg, adores the Connaught Bar – and it shows. This luxury steakhouse’s Martini Cart is a direct replica of the Connaught’s, embellished by gold leaf accents and ornately designed canisters to hold lemon twists and olives, in reference to the restaurant’s Gilded Age theme. First, choose your preferred vodka or gin from the cart’s extensive selection. If you like, add vermouth, orange bitters, or olive, lemon or lime juice, before your drink is stirred before your eyes. Embellish your concoction with a garnish: lemon twist, regular or blue cheese-stuffed olives. In keeping with the trolley theme, the restaurant also has a Raw Cart, replete with sashimi, oysters, lobster, king crab and caviar.
The bread trolley: Steirereck, Vienna
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The trolley is king at Steirereck, (ranked No.18 at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023), an Austrian fine-dining restaurant that wears its culinary credentials with a sense of humour (and magic). Supervised by Andreas – Steirereck’s ‘Bread Andi’ – the bread trolley has been a certified crowd-pleaser for more than 20 years. Andreas works closely with specialist producers, adapting the bread varieties to suit the time and season. Steirereck also has aperitif trolleys, a tea trolley, one national and one international digestif trolley and a Christmas-time vanillekipferl trolley carrying the city’s traditional, crescent-shaped biscuits.
The burrata trolley: Flor de Sal, Puerto Rico
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Burrata fans: watch this creamy treat being made for you tableside, courtesy of this beachside eatery’s burrata cart. The trolley also bears a smorgasbord of enticing extras for dreamy bruschetta. We’re talking peperonata, marinated Kalamata olives, artisanal Italian olives, piquillo peppers, grilled seasonal vegetables and grilled sourdough. The dish is plated up for you to savour, accompanied by lashings of ambrosial olive oil and the soft murmur of the waves.
The dim sum trolley: Maxim’s Palace, Hong Kong
For an old-school Hong Kong dining experience, don’t miss Maxim’s Palace and its classic dim sum trolleys, wielded with aplomb by famously stern-but-sweet aunties in chic black-and-white uniforms. Graced with sparkling chandeliers and unabashed grandeur, the banquet hall is the perfect setting for a regal feast. Munch on classic Cantonese bites, from steamed pork and shrimp dumplings with crab roe to egg-yolk buns and minced beef balls with bean curd. Nab a table by the windows to soak up the evocative harbour views.
The petit-fours trolley: Marguerite, Singapore
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Because grandparents are the greatest, Marguerite’s mignardise trolley is Australian chef-patron Michael Wilson’s sweet tribute to his nan’s desserts. Served on an embellished crystal plate (just like Nan did), the selection includes olive oil pate de fruits made from Greek extra virgin olive oil, a Nespresso-style capsule encased in dark chocolate, calvados gummies, cacao bonbons, caramelised apple and cinnamon macarons, and an artful take on Iced VoVos: a flamingo-pink, strawberry-marshmallow biscuit that Wilson loved eating as a child.
The ice-cream trolley: Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Dubai
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When it comes to culinary theatrics, Dubai doesn’t disappoint – especially if you’re at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, in Atlantis the Royal, a proud presence on The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2024 list. End your meal with a grand finale (and maybe mild brain freeze), thanks to the Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Trolley (c.1901). Flaunting all the scientific wizardry you’d expect from a Blumenthal production, the trolley is a modern tribute to the earliest-known mention of liquid gas used to make ice-cream.
The tiramisu trolley: Cesarina, San Diego
@cesarinapasta
(Image: Alene Ibarra)
Zabaglione and coffee-drenched dreams come true at chef Cesarina Mezzoni’s namesake restaurant, which has reached cult status among San Diego foodies. A rolling dessert cart arrives tableside, proudly bearing the deconstructed components of a tiramisu. Then it’s over to the nimble-fingered pastry chef to assemble the decadent layers of house-made ladyfingers, espresso and crema al mascarpone, crowned with an abundant dusting of cocoa.
The dessert trolley: Robuchon au Dôme, Macau
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Late great French chef Joël Robuchon had a thing for dessert trolleys, and his legacy rooftop restaurant at Grand Hotel Lisboa in Macau doesn’t disappoint. For all the sweeping skyline views and glittering design features, it’s hard to tear your eyes away from the sweet treats and other treats wheeling towards you on a handsome, two-tiered trolley. Classic confections include choux buns, soufflé, iles flottantes, rum baba, lemon-meringue tart, chocolate-hazelnut tart, mille-feuille, passionfruit mousse tartlet and spun-sugar creations worthy of Willy Wonka. Don’t go all out, though: coffee and a mignardise trolley full of tempting tiny bites come next, plus airy mousses, fruit salads, flans, cakes, tarts and spun-sugar creations worthy of Willy Wonka.
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